Well, we have all thought for years that lower placed teams get the rough end of the referees penalty wand. At least Richo is now expressing these views openly. I would go further and suggest that the NRL have an agenda and need to keep certain teams winning to maximise interest in the sport.
See article on ABC
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Better teams with higher end talent will usually dominate the game as well and get more calls in their favour but he's not totally wrong either.
Totally agree. I listened to that game on the ABC and the commentars were going ballstic over some of the calls, even when the aDogs played Parra, we were hard done by...By the way, we won't get the spoon. Though we've lost our key player, Moses, I still beolieve we'll end up around 12th by the season end. Next year will be better. No Brown, No Carty, No Matto, no Lane. We have young players coming up through the grades, thanks to Nathan Brown and Ryles
Where is Matterson going?
Hopefully somewhere else.
The majority of commentary was that Moses milked the penalty when Kikau hit his leg after the kick last weekend. It was a clear cut penalty under the rule that was brought in a couple of years ago. In the game we actually got the penalty, however no-one thought it was deserved and subsequently Kikau got off the charge. It is a similar example of sub-consious bias, like they are a shit team so it doesn't matter.
I mean it's the human condition you can just see it at the end of games when officiating swings once the game is beyond doubt to make it look like an equal contest.
Make no mistake here officiating isn't the reason we are in the predicament we are in.Errors are the biggest reason we continue to make these errors and the officiating just piggybacks our downfall.
We continue to give teams piggybacks with the mentioned and until we understand possession is king we'll always find something to moan about.
Of course the NRL is rigged. When it comes to big $$$ most things are
Its subtle but its there. The refs know who the favourites are and subconciously referee in a direction. I refuse to believe its some widespread hatred of certain teams or for money reasons. I just think the refs, being human, struggle to mentally overcome expected outcomes. They, as I say, often referee in a direction probably without realising they are even doing it.
I think when we were going well it worked for us a few games too. I noticed it.
The year that stands out for me though was 2013. The refs were giving us nothing, it wasnt even subtle that year. It was like we were playing up hill all year.
2022 Qualifying final against the Cows, we got away wtih that forward pass. But it is so memorable because it rarely happens for us. I actualy don't get as upset about it anymore because the reffing is so consistantly bad and inconsistant that I just see it as part of the game. You need to be better than the opposition and the refs. As well as hoping you get some calls.